1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the attachment of siding to a building, and more particularly to an improved siding clip for coupling and mounting courses to a vertical support.
2. Background of the Invention
A popular form of plastic siding is made to resemble clapboard, and typically includes a number of elongated pieces or courses which are applied in overlapping relationship, similar to clapboards, so as to shed water. Since the plastic siding is made of thin material, means must be provided to interlock each course as it is applied with the next lower course. For this purpose, an integral top locking strip is provided on each course which has a downward projection spaced from the body of the siding into which an upturned projecting strip on the bottom of the next higher course of siding can be fitted when applying the siding to a building structure, e.g., a house. This next course is then nailed to the house, usually to plywood sheathing which has been applied to form the exterior walls of the building structure, at a point above the top locking strip, so that the nailing is concealed by the next higher course of siding. The nailing is usually done through a slot provided near the top edge of each course of siding, the purpose of the slot being to permit a certain amount of lateral movement of the siding with respect to the wall of the house, and to provide for differential expansion and contraction between the siding and the sheathing which otherwise would tend to produce buckling and distortion of the siding. For this reason, the nail should not be applied too tightly, and this is often difficult to achieve in practice, and may result in the undesired distortion taking place.
Accordingly, what is needed is a clip that can securely fix siding courses to a vertical support wherein such clip will allow the courses to naturally expand and contract without affecting the functionality of the courses. The clip preferably should also be easily moved relative to the courses so that a stable vertical support, e.g., a wall stud, suitable for securement of the clip thereto, may be readily available.